We are nearing the end of Anniversary Review Week and I am sad to see it coming to a close. I have enjoyed this week so much and hope that you have been as well. Today is Day 7 so after today there is only one more day. But it is not over yet! Today I am reviewing an anime that I highly recommend and am super excited to be reviewing it!!

So here is my 35th Anime Review and Day 7 of Anniversary Review Week! One of my favorite supernatural anime to come out of the last few years: Noragami.

Noragami is based off of a manga series of the same name that is written by Adachitoka that began release in December 2010 and has as of now released 16 volumes plus one special volume. The anime first aired in January 2014 as a part of the Winter 2014 Anime season. It ran for 12 episodes before it finished in March 2014. It also released two OVA episodes after the season concluded. It was given a second season, titled Noragami Aragoto, which began airing in October 2015 and ran for 13 episodes before ending in December 2015. That season also had two OVA episodes released. That gives Noragami a total of 29 episodes.

The story of Noragami is of a relatively unknown god, Yato, who dubs himself a “Delivery God” in order to try and gain followers, which he has none of. He has no shrine of his own and his dreams of having millions of worshipers seems very hard to achieve. He goes day by day granting wishes, or doing chores, for a simple five yen and when his weapon partner quits on him it seems to be all over for Yato. His luck changes when middle schooler Hiyori Iki saves Yato when he is almost hit by a truck while attempting to grant wish. Hiyori survives but is left with the side effect of her soul leaving her body at random. She demands Yato to return her to normal but ends up helping him out more than she had intended. to. The rest of the story centers around the introduction of Yato’s new weapon partner, Yukine, as well as meeting some other gods and some other characters.

As far as characters so, I think that this show really does have a great character cast. Yato can be annoying at times but the show makes an effort to let you know why he acts the way that he does. When he first became a god he did a lot of bad things, and recent events in his life have caused him to look at things a lot differently. He want to become a better god and have people who worship him so that he can feel needed and loved. He is such a funny and innocent character, but he can also come in and kick some serious butt if his friends are in danger. Aside from Yato, the other characters are great as well. Hiyori, as the only real human human in the show, becomes our means of learning about the world of the gods and the phantoms that they fight against. Her relationship with Yato also plays a big part in the story because Hiyori, as Yato’s only “follower”, is what technically keeps him alive. Without follows gods do not exist, so without Hiyori, Yato cannot exist. Plus I think that those two are super cute, but I digress. Yukine is also a good character because he shows the struggle that these weapon partners have. They are created from the spirits of people who have passed away, and dealing with human problems like greed are something that affects both them and the gods they serve. The whole cast shows that gods are not perfect. Each character has a backstory that shows you why they do what they do or why they feel the way that they do, and a little quirk or habit that makes them unique. Like how Kofuku causes havoc to everything and anyone she comes in contact with. Or how Yato is obsessed with Cabybaras which leads to probably the funniest OVA I have ever seen. I love these characters and watching them interact is what led me to read the manga once the first season finished.

The soundtrack for Norgami was amazing. The opening themes for each season, “Goya no Machiawase” by Hello Sleepwalkers and “Kyouran Hey Kids!!” by THE ORAL CIGARETTES, were two amazing songs that I loved listening to every episode. They really pumped me up for each episode and both fit the show very well. Both of those songs as well as a few insert songs made their way onto my iPod very quickly. Both endings were good as well. “Heart Realize” and “Nirvana”, both by the artist Tia, worked to calm you down when the episode was over.

Noragami was done by studio Bones and it was truly beautiful to watch. The action scenes were fluid and intense and the more calm scene had the same movements as well. The colors were absolutely beautiful, especially how blue Yato’s eyes were, and thew way the the opening was colored was cool to see. It had sort of a gray tone to it but did features colors like red or orange to really stand out, which was a cool touch. Bones has produced a lot of anime with good animation, and Noragami was no exception. It was just so pretty.

Today was another easy decision to make on how to rank it, and in the end I award Noragami with an A. The characters were so lovable and with the story behind it I was hooked in easily. I have sat there on the edge of my seat waiting for what would happen next, and I have also sat there on the edge of my seat as I watched a sweat and beautiful moment happened. The way the anime was paced was really nice as well. Instead of having one major arch over the 12 or 13 episodes, it had two arcs each season. It seems kind of odd but with doing that the story was not drawn out and no filler episodes were put in. The episodes that we more filler-like were saved for the OVAs and with the two arcs there was more going on and the show seemed more exciting. I absolutely love this show and recommend it to anyone who has not given it a try yet.

Well that is all that I have for Day 7 of Anniversary Review Week and my 35th Anime Review. I love this show, as well as the manga it is based off of, and it is one of my favorites to come out in the past few years. What do you guys think? What did you think of Noragami? Which god would you want to be a weapon partner to? Let me know down in the comments below!! And if there is a show you think that I should try out you can leave that down below as well!!

UGH. Noragami is so good! Yukine is so cute. And Yato and Yukine’s friendship is GOALS.
The OPs are amazing. I love them. They’re always on repeat on my phone.
I agree in EVERY WAY. (Well…except for maybe Hiyori. I don’t like her. Why? She seems…annoying. But she is important. I’ll admit that.)

noragami was a fantastic anime, the randomness of it was great and the serious moments were perfect. this one of those gems that a lot of people need to watch. i still need to watch the second season, i dont use crunchyroll or any online anime site so i will wait for it on dvd

I absolutely love Noragami. It’s just fun and energetic but still manages to pack in a lot of human drama. I introduced a non-anime watcher to it and they fell in love with it as well because the characters are just so interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I didn’t care much for the first season of Noragami but the second I think improved considerably upon what its predecessor set up. I enjoyed the arcs in latter season involving Bishamon and Ebisu but wasn’t really able to enjoy any of the main cast at any point. Ultimately I didn’t end up enjoying the series all that much but the soccer scene in the first OVA always gets a chuckle out of me.

"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!" - Goku